Eccentric hamstring training, particularly the Nordic
hamstring curl exercise, reduces the incidence of both novel and recurrent hamstring strain injury.
Exploring multiple sets of the Nordic
hamstring curl exercise, Marshall et al. (2015) noted that a single set of 5 repetitions led to substantial reductions in peak eccentric knee flexion moments during the exercise, with even further reductions in subsequent sets, implying that performing the Nordic hamstring curl prior to practice or other exercise might not be advisable.
This will give you an arsenal of 12
hamstrings curl exercises: 4 machines x 3 foot positions (neutral, inward, outward) = 12 permutations.
Not exact matches
The reviewers found few studies evaluating the effectiveness in the ACL rehabilitation process of so - called «open chain»
exercises (those which tend to isolate a single muscle group and a single joint, such as leg
curls and leg extensions, with or without added weight) versus «closed chain»
exercises (those which work multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at once, such as, for example, a squat involves the knee, hip and ankle joints, and multiple muscles groups, e.g. quads,
hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and glutes, with body weight alone or with added weight).
For optimal athletic performance, you need strong and flexible
hamstrings, and there is one highly effective
exercise that will help you get there:
hamstring curls.
The
hamstring curl is a crucial
exercise for ensuring complete balance between the front and the back of the leg, which results with improved aesthetics and a lesser risk of injuries rooted in unbalanced muscle development.
You probably do your
hamstring exercises after doing an hour of quads, which exhausts them, and at the very end you just do a few lying leg
curls that are rarely performed with the adequate intensity.
The
exercises that hit your
hamstrings the best are leg
curls and stiff - leg deadlifts.
Bicep and
hamstring curls are great — but multi-step
exercises like deadlifts, squats, dumbbell presses (instead of barbell) will target more muscles and introduces a greater range of motion.
In our quest for lean and powerful legs, many of us do countless sets of machine - based
exercises like
hamstring curls and leg extensions.
Hamstring Curls with Swiss ball — Do a Bridge
exercise instead.
It's even possible to do isolation
exercises like leg extensions and
hamstring curls!
Increasing the range of motion of your quadriceps prior to a leg
curl exercise will increase the amount of motor units used in the
hamstrings during the
exercise.
Increasing the range of motion of your quadriceps prior to a leg
curl exercise will increase the amount of motor units used in the
hamstrings during the
exercise and therefore, the effectiveness of the chosen
exercise.
You can also work your
hamstring muscles with
exercises like stiff - legged dead lift (hip hinges) or leg
curl machines.
Examples of
Exercises that work just one muscle group On the flip side of the coin, triceps push downs only work the triceps, a leg
curl will only work the
hamstrings and a barbell
curl will only work the biceps.
Two at - home
exercises were selected as good substitutes for the lying
hamstring curl.
day 1 ARMS - standing
curl - 15,12,10,8,8 - incline hammer
curl - 12,10,10,8 - concentration
curl - 12,10,10,8 - bench press - 15,12,10,6 - reverse wrist
curl - 15,12,10,8 - wrist
curl - 20,15,12,10,8 - laydown tricep ext - 15,12,10,8 - tricep kickback - 15,12,10,8 Day 2 legs - dumbell lunges - 16,12,10,10,8 - calf ext - 25,20,20,20 - sitting calf ext - 20,20,20 - mule calf ext - 20,20,20 - squats - 15,12,10,10 -
hamstring curl - 15,12,10,8,8 - leg ext - 15,12,10,8,8 Day 3 Shoulders and back - side arm lift - 15,12,10,8,8 - single arm dumbbell pull - 15,12,10,8,8 - front barbell press - 12,8,6,6 - straight leg dead lift - 15,12,10,8,8,8 - dumbbell shoulder press - 12,10,8 - drop set - 8,10,12 - overhead laydown barbell pull - 12,8,8,8 - front dumbbell lift - 15,12,10,8,8 - laydown reverse butterfly - 12,10,10,10 -25 #plate front lift with barbell shrugs superset - 12/15, 12 / 12,12 / 10,12 / 8,12 / 8 I space these out over 7 days and do various
exercises in between, generally pushups, crunches, other calisthenics, and walking / jogging.
It is suggested that this works due to the ability of the
exercise to increase the peak eccentric force of the
hamstrings at shallower angles of knee flexion (the knee is more extended) vs. a leg
curl which puts a premium on concentric force when the knee is in full flexion.
Designed for control with your hands or feet, Edge - Board ™ trainer gives you the flexibility to do a wide range of core and full - body training
exercises — from lunges and abdominal extensions to
hamstring curls, push - ups and pike - ups, all while the removable device tray securely holds your smartphone for training with the M - Trac ™ App.
Those often referred to as pulling
exercises are
curls, upright rows, chins, bent - over rows and
hamstring curls etc..
Leg developer station allows
hamstring curl and leg extension for intense lower - body
exercises
Purpose: Most
hamstring - focused
exercises typically involve a
curling motion, which only involves knee flexion.
The
hamstrings consist of three muscles... and you can use simple shifts in leg / foot position to change the focus of the leg
curl exercise to shift more work onto the inner and outer
hamstring muscles for complete development.
Whoever thinks a leg
curl is a more efficient way of isolating the
hamstrings has obviously not tried this
exercise!
You can work each leg muscle individually (with
exercises like
hamstring curls, leg extensions, inner and outer thigh machines, butt machines, and calf raises), but it will take you much more time and not be as beneficial as squats, or dead lifts, or lunges.
Hamstring curls done on a stability ball lift and tighten your booty like no other
exercise!
A few
exercises to help this are eccentric
hamstring leans, glute ham raises, Nordic leg
curl, prone, standing and kneeling leg
curls.
McAllister et al. (2014) compared gluteus medius EMG activity during the glute - ham raise, good morning, Romanian deadlift (RDL), and prone leg
curl, which are primarily
hamstrings exercises.
The Nordic
hamstring curl is the primary
exercise used for performing eccentric training of the
hamstring musculature during long - term trials investigating
hamstring strain injury prevention (Gabbe et al. 2006b; Engebretsen et al. 2008; Arnason et al. 2010; Petersen et al. 2011; Van der Horst et al. 2015) although a range of others have also been developed that may also be suitable (Askling et al. 2013; Orishimo & McHugh, 2015).
Some
exercises appear to target the medial
hamstrings to a greater extent (e.g. kettlebell swings and deadlifts) while other
exercises target the lateral
hamstrings more (e.g. leg
curls and back extensions).
Assessing the effect of stability during both compound and trunk flexion
exercises, Mok et al. (2014) assessed the muscle activity of the abdominals in a number of suspension
exercises including the hip abduction plank (feet in straps), press up, inverted row and
hamstring curl (feet in straps).
Schoenfeld et al. (2015) explored the EMG amplitude of the proximal (upper) and distal (lower) regions of the medial and lateral
hamstrings during the stiff - legged deadlift and the lying leg
curl exercises in resistance - trained males.
Exploring the EMG amplitude of the
hamstrings during the Nordic
hamstring curl, Iga et al. (2012) found that EMG amplitude of the
hamstrings was higher when the knee was extended than when the knee was flexed, indicating that the
exercise trains the
hamstrings at long muscle lengths.
Interestingly, the Nordic
curl produces greater increases in muscle fascicle length and preferential biceps femoris (short head) and semitendinosus hypertrophy compared to hip extension - based
hamstrings exercises (Bourne et al. 2016).
Though Nordic
curls get a lot of love in the research on
hamstring injuries, I personally am not convinced there are any more special than any other
exercise.
This may imply that
exercises involving peak contractions when the knee is bent (like leg
curls) are more effective at developing the
hamstrings.
This study shows that one way in which we can increase the emphasis on the medial
hamstrings during several strength training
exercises (including the leg
curl) is to rotate the foot inwards, while rotating the foot outwards emphasises the lateral
hamstrings.
The Nordic
curl is commonly recommended as the primary
exercise to perform in order to prevent and rehabilitate
hamstring strain injury (Schmitt & McHugh, 2012; Bahr et al. 2015).
Of course, there are many other
exercises that will hit your buttocks, namely squats,
hamstring curls, and leg presses.
Comparing
hamstring strain injury prevention and rehabilitation
exercises, Orishimo & McHugh (2015) found that the supine sliding leg
curl (Slider) produced greater gluteus maximus EMG amplitude during the eccentric phase than the standing elastic - band resisted hip extension, the standing trunk flexion (Glider) or the standing split (Diver).
The leg press machine — based
exercises consisted of biceps
curls, triceps extension, seated rowing, latissimus dorsi pull - down
exercises, leg presses,
hamstring curls, and calf raises.
The deadlift appears to be a better
hamstrings exercise than the back squat but the Romanian deadlift is similar to other commonly - performed
hamstrings exercises (Nordic
curl, glute - ham raise, machine leg
curl).
Leg
curls are the best way to give some extra attention to the
hamstring muscles, so you might know this
exercise as a
hamstring curl too.
McAllister et al. (2014) compared the leg
curl, good morning, glute - ham raise, and Romanian deadlift and reported that the Romanian deadlift displayed similar medial and lateral
hamstrings muscle activity to the other
exercises.